


light in the dark

by ameliakepner



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Romance, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Jeanine doesn't die, Minor Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Post-Insurgent, this is me essentially rewriting canon because i want to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27779965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameliakepner/pseuds/ameliakepner
Summary: When Evelyn chooses to keep Jeanine alive, what will happen when they and the others go beyond the wall? Will they be able to make a new life for themselves outside of the faction system?
Relationships: Evelyn Johnson-Eaton/Jeanine Matthews
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

“We should keep her alive.” Evelyn looks through the door of Jeanine’s jail cell. The woman is sitting slouched over on her bed, heels perfectly placed next to the cool metal frame. She’s not paying attention to the conversations happening outside. She’s fiddling with the bandage on her hand, appearing to be seeking a source of stimulus.

“Are you kidding?” Tris clearly expresses her dislike of the idea. To her, it seemed utterly stupid to keep the evil woman alive. Even if her intelligence could be useful. She knew for a fact that if it weren’t for Jeanine, this whole situation would not have happened. “After all she’s done?”

“Yeah, this seems pretty ridiculous.” Four comments, making sure to take his lover’s side. “You’re the last person I would’ve expected to say that.”

“She’s a valuable asset.” Evelyn glances back at Jeanine again for a brief moment and they lock eyes. The blonde gives her somewhat of a sour look. “I don’t have it in me to kill her just yet.” She could not truly elaborate on what she meant by that. On the surface, she seemed to want to use Jeanine for her intellect. However, it goes much deeper than that.

What went unmentioned was the history that the two of them had. It was because of her affair with Jeanine that she got the courage to truly leave Marcus and fake her death. Evelyn’s ‘death’ was real for Jeanine though. A part of her died when she lost her. She spent a long time believing that the brunette was dead. Jeanine nearly drank herself into a coma and it became public knowledge that the Erudite leader was an alcoholic. Evelyn heard about that and felt incredibly guilty. She should have said something to her. She should have tried to keep contact. But she couldn’t. She had to leave everything behind to get away from Marcus. Another downfall of that was having to abandon her son, Tobias, and leaving him to experience his father’s abuse. She got away from it but at what cost?

That’s all she can think about when she sees Jeanine’s face, which is now more angular and mature than the last time she saw her. All she can picture is her streaming tears at the funeral. The first time anyone saw Jeanine Matthews cry. Evelyn had watched from a distance, unseen from the people attending. She even saw her screaming at Marcus. The most un-composed that the woman looked in years. Evelyn cried with her that day and Jeanine doesn’t even know it. She yearned for her touch in that moment. She wanted her to know that she was alive and okay. But she never told her. She regrets it these days, but you cannot change the past.

God, how she loved her dearly. Things are different now. She acknowledges the harm that Jeanine’s done to the factions and can’t bring herself to feel that same fondness. Though some parts of it still lingered. It made her sick. How could she love a monster?

“Someone should talk to her about what’s happening.” Tris walks around Evelyn to investigate the cell herself. She receives a nod from both Four and Evelyn before she slides open the door.

Four grabs her arm briefly before letting her go to enter the cell. “Be careful.” He closes it right behind her.

“Tris.” Jeanine looks up at the young woman. She spoke in her normal composed tone, but behind that was an awful lot of anxiety. Anyone can see it by the way she was tapping her foot on the rough concrete floor.

“Jeanine.” Tris nods, politely greeting her before sitting across from her on the floor. “We’ve made a decision.”

“…And that would be?”

“We’re taking you beyond the wall.”


	2. Chapter 2

“We’re taking you beyond the wall.”

Jeanine huffed. “Are you sure that’s wise?” She usually possessed an intimidating quality that, in normal circumstances, would be scary. However, in this instance she seemed more anxious. For someone who is generally unaffected by most things, she was expecting a truly awful fate and it showed. Tris saw straight through her. “All things considered…” She glanced over to Evelyn, who was speaking to Four outside of the cell.

“She wants to keep you alive.”

“Well, that’s a surprise.” Jeanine smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt with her bandaged hand. “I guess she was too cowardly to get the job done.” She was again appearing strong, completely unphased at the idea of Evelyn ending her life. “Wasn’t that what she came here for? For revenge? To overthrow Erudite’s power?”

“I’m just as shocked as you are.” Tris shrugged. She didn’t understand the reasons that Evelyn gave for keeping her alive. “She changed her mind.”

“I see.” Jeanine pushed off the bed with her healthy hand, standing up in the cell. “Should we get going? Unless there was something else you wanted to discuss…” She trailed off. “In private.” Her stare burned deep into the young girl’s eyes.

“Did something happen between you and Evelyn?”

Jeanine exhaled dramatically. “Of course.” She crossed her arms. “Of course, something happened.” That struck a nerve in the woman. She sat back down. Clearly this was a story that she needed to get off her chest. Tris opened the biggest can of worms. She stayed silent to listen properly.

“We had the love story of a lifetime. It was cut short by what I believed was her death.”

Tris tried not to laugh at that first sentence. The idea of Jeanine being in love was funny to her. It was very inappropriate, and she just bit her lip to keep it from coming out.

“She destroyed me.” Jeanine was playing with her bandage again. “The second I heard of her passing from Marcus…that felt like my entire world crumbling beneath me. I um…made a pretty big scene at the funeral.”

-

“This is your fault!” Jeanine spat at him. The rage kept beneath her mask came out in a single moment. “She’s gone because of you!” Hot tears ran down her cheeks endlessly. Marcus stood there and took it. He couldn’t fight her. He didn’t know what to say. “What’s going to happen to him now that he’s going to grow up without a mother?” She pointed at young Tobias. “We all know how you treat him. Everyone here knows that you’re a monster.” She kept shooting him with words, desperate to hurt him in the way she knew how. While making a scene at the funeral of your dead lover isn’t ideal for your image, Jeanine was too hurt to care. She wanted someone to feel her pain. She needed it to be him. He was awful to Evelyn and he deserved to burn in hell.

-

“…Oh.” Tris was not sure how to react to that story. She was expecting something way less intense.

Evelyn opened the door to the cell. “Let’s get going. We’ve got to get our prisoner some necessities before we leave.”

The first stop on their mission was Jeanine’s apartment. Evelyn typed in the passcode as if it were something she had done just yesterday. It had been years at this point. It was a long 20-digit number. Even Jeanine herself was impressed.

“You remembered.”

“Of course I did.” Evelyn sighed. “You made a song about it and it’s been stuck in my head ever since.”

Tris and Tobias side-eyed each other.

“Come on now, let’s get you packed.” Evelyn grabbed onto Jeanine’s arm, lightly tugging her into her own apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been super busy with school and changing programs. But I'm trying to get back on track with my fanfic updates :)

**Author's Note:**

> ...and that was the introduction to my new WIP, "light in the dark", that I have had in the works for a week. I will be working on this alongside 'lead me to the garden' and another jeanlyn AU that should be uploaded soon. My brain is all over the place and I'll update when I can. I love you all!!!


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